Lost In You
by Aquamarine Shadows
Summary: My math skills were horrid. I'd be lucky if I could pass math with a D. Between my parents' fighting, keeping my grades up, and college entrance exams, I was spreading myself thin. Nothing could put me at ease until he came along." UryuxOC four/five-shot
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach or Uryu.

xXxXx

9:17 AM, Tokyo, Japan--Advanced Math

I watched glumly as Miss Ochi handed back our latest tests. I knew that I hadn't done well on it. My numerical comprehension could have been considered below average. I grumbled as she handed me mine--a D minus. She stopped beside my desk after handing out the last test with a concerned look on her face.

"Akane-chan, I hope you realize that if your test grades get any lower you'll fail this class," she said, "and you have to pass it to advance to your third year of high school."

"I had absolutely no idea. Thanks for the notice," I said, sarcasm dripping from my words.

Each unit in my math class had the same routine: she would give us notes, I'd have no clue what we were doing, I bomb the test, and she comments on how low my grades are. I was so relieved when the bell rang. Next period was study hall.

I entered the library and set my books down on a table. The row after row of bookshelves made the place seem like a giant labyrinth. Orihime sat in the seat across from me and smiled wide. "How was last hour, Akane?" she said cheerfully. I just shook my head in disappointment. Orihime knew I struggled in advanced math, so she encouraged me to keep trying my best and that everything would work out. She looked at me sympathetically. "How bad was it?"

"Horrible. I'm on the verge of failing," I said. Orihime wrinkled her forehead in thought. She tried to think of an answer to my problem, but there were very few solutions.

"I know! Why don't you ask Ishida-kun to tutor you? He's a genius!" she said. My cheeks flushed red. Uryu tutor me? I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner, but I rather liked the idea. To me, he wasn't that cold, distant nerd that my friends said he was. I saw a kind, intelligent boy with a passion for his work. He wasn't like the other guys in my class; a lot of them were loud and obnoxious with a tendency to be really judgmental. Uryu was quiet and reserved.

"I'll ask him then," I said in a quiet tone, looking away from Orihime. She giggled at my behavior.

-

After school I headed to the handicrafts club room. I hesitated when I slid the door open. The room was empty, so I took the time to look around the place. Red velvet curtains were held back by gold cords, a simple Victorian chandelier hung over the center of the room, and under it was a mahogany table--probably the work table the club members used. I was so caught up in the room that I didn't notice someone slide open the door.

"Can I help you, Matsura-san?" Uryu said from behind. I whipped around to face him, once again a noticeable blush on my cheeks. I twirled my hair in my finger nervously and fidgeted with the bottom of my skirt.

"Uh, y-yeah," I stuttered. "I was wondering if- if you could help me." My voice decrescendoed. Uryu arched an eyebrow.

"What for?" he said.

I looked down ashamedly. I hated bringing up my grades in a conversation. "It's my math class. I'm really close to failing, and if I fail, I can't advance to year three. I was wondering if you could help me."

Uryu smiled warmly at me. "Sure. Come here after school tomorrow."

After I thanked him for his help, I walked home all the while wondering what kind of teacher he was. From the warm tone that he used in the handicrafts room, I felt that my study sessions with Uryu could make me enjoy math little by little.

xXxXx

There you have it: part one of, well... I'm not sure how many yet. =\ I was thinking a two or threeshot, but I might make it a bit longer. I've always wanted to try an UryuxOC story, but all I've ever done is IshiHime (in the way of Uryu pairings). Let me know what you think. =)

Happy reading,

~Kai


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I still don't own Bleach.

xXxXx

I met Uryu in the handicrafts club room the next day after school. He sat at the mahogany table with a notebook and some pencils.

"Thanks for doing this," I said. Uryu pushed up his glasses and cleared his throat nervously.

"It's no problem," he said quietly. Uryu opened the notebook and wrote at the top of the first page, "Advanced Math: Chapter 3 Notes."

"We're doing limits in the homework assignment we got yesterday. Do you understand how to find a limit?" he said. I grimaced at the mention of the word limit. I understood what we were doing the day we learned it, but then I completely forgot what I was supposed to be doing when I started the homework.

"Well, all I know is that you can replace x with the number it approaches, but I keep getting non-existent limits with zero as a denominator," I said.

"I see. It's ok though. That's why we're doing this," he said. Uryu smiled at me as if to assure me that I wasn't a total failure. He explained to me the different processes of solving our homework equations and why they worked that way. As he went along, he wrote notes down for me and made sure they explained what the letters stood for and why things were that way. I wished I would've taken my notes like that. Not only were they helpful, but he explained things better than Miss Ochi. Thank God for the geniuses that actually understand that crazy math.

"Tomorrow I'll go over graphing the equations. We learned it last year, so it's just a refresher of trig last year," he said as he stood from his seat. He handed me the notebook and slung his bag over his shoulder. When I got out of my chair, my arm accidentally hit a cup of pencils on the edge of the table. I bent down to pick them up, but so did Uryu. I didn't realize it until we both reached for the same pencil, and his hand brushed mine, keeping contact for a second or so. I blushed a light shade of pink and turned my face away from him.

"Sorry," I said quietly.

"It's ok."

-

When I got home from my tutoring session with Uryu, my dad was waiting at the front door of my house with an angry look on his face and his arms folded. I sighed to myself. 'Here goes again,' I thought.

"Where were you?" he demanded. "School got out two hours ago. It's almost dark. You were supposed to be home by 3:30." I mumbled something insulting under my breath.

"One of my classmates was tutoring me in math," I said bitterly. "You're always nagging at me to get my math grade up, so what's wrong with doing stuff so that I _can _get it up?" The pitch of my voice rose, and it got louder with each word.

"Well maybe if you would pay attention in the first place, you wouldn't have to have a tutor!" he fired back.

"Oh, so now it's MY fault! FYI, I do pay attention! I just don't understand what the teacher says!" I clenched my fist tightly, my nails digging into the palm of my hand.

"Don't yell at me, young lady! If you're going to be that way, then go to your room until you learn to treat your elders with respect!" My dad's yelling brought my mom to the front steps. She looked from me to him, a concerned look on her face.

"Calm down, Tatsuya. Akane-chan is trying to keep up with her grades like you ask her to. Please stop yelling," she said.

"If she weren't so disrespectful, I wouldn't have to yell," he grumbled. I rolled my eyes at my dad's idiocy. Wasn't he the one that started nagging at me the second I got home?

"Why are you such an idiot?" I spat as I pushed my way past him forcefully. He glared at me as I stomped up the stairs and slammed my bedroom door shut behind me. The moment I got in my room, I threw my stuff on my desk and fell back onto the bed. I sighed in annoyance at my family.

My dad had been really moody ever since he lost his job at a big architectural firm. He took the smallest things into offense. He would take his stress out on anyone--even my mom. My mom wasn't the type of person to yell at people. She was too forgiving to yell at anyone, finding an reason for even the worst behavior. I had yet to see her fight with my father. That is, I had yet to see her fight back. He would yell at her occasionally, but her face expression always became emotionless as if she were compressing her anger to feel nothing at all. I didn't think their marriage would last this long. When I was eight, I started a bet with my older brother on how long they would stay together. For every year they managed to stay together, I owed him five bucks, and if they broke up he owed me fifty.

I changed into my pajamas and decided to go to bed early. I'd feel better after I cooled off over a good night's sleep.

xXxXx

The next day at school, Uryu stopped by my locker to chat. I was so shocked that he was talking to me during the school day that I dropped some of my books. 'I'm such a dork,' I thought.

"How did your homework go last night?" he said. "Did you understand everything alright?"

"Yeah. Thanks a lot for the notes. They really helped," I said with a smile. Uryu smiled back as he pushed his glasses up and muttered something to the extent of "good."

-

10:45 AM, Karakura High School--Sociology

"Today we're doing an experiment on the impression that people give off," Takara-sensei said. "I want you to get out a sheet of paper and make two columns. Number from one to ten on each side." I tore out a sheet of paper from my notebook and did as he directed. "On the left side, I want you to think of someone who gives you a good impression. Write five reasons you like them. On the right side, think of someone who gives you a bad impression. Write five reasons you like them as well."As soon as Takara mentioned someone who gives a good impression, I immediately thought of Uryu. I easily scribbled five reasons to like him.

_1. He's at the top of the class._

_2. He's always really nice._

_3. He's talented._

_4. He's willing to help others._

_5. His calm personality makes me feel comfortable._

On the right side of the paper, I thought of my dad. His attitude always gave off a bad impression to strangers.

_1. He spoiled me a lot when I was little._

_2. He's caring. _

That was as far as I could get without thinking of bad things. It was true that my parents spoiled me rotten when I was very little, but as for the second good quality? Lies. It's one thing to be a concerned parent, but it's another to watch over your child like a hawk. Takara-sensei collected our papers when we were all finished. He read through all of them quickly, and then he mixed up the papers and gave us someone else's to read. He told us to analyze the way people perceive each other and if that person is able to see good in people no matter what they do to Takara handed me a paper, I recognized the handwriting as Uryu's. The left column read:

_1. Always listens to others._

_2. Kind to those around her._

_3. Always comes prepared._

_4. Nice to talk to._

_5. Easy for me to relax around her. _

I didn't know who he was talking about, but she must've been a really nice person. I could immediately tell who the other person was though. Instead of writing down the good qualities about them, he wrote all the bad ones.

_1. He's too loud._

_2. He makes stupid decisions._

_3. He can't do anything without help._

_4. He gives bad directions._

_5. He doesn't listen to me when I'm saying something important. _

'That's Kurosaki all right,' I thought. I knew Uryu disliked Ichigo, but I didn't think he hated him that much. I was snapped out of my thoughts when Takara called on me.

"What did you find about your person's paper, Matsura?" he said.

"Well, I think it's easier for people to think of the good qualities of someone with a good attitude because you don't see the bad qualities in them," I said. Like they say, "Love is blind."

"Very good. When I read through your papers, I saw that most of you either wrote the other person's bad qualities or couldn't even write three good qualities," he said while he wrote on the board. It read:

_In order to take an unbiased approach on life, one must be able to see both sides of a situation. _

I didn't see much point in Takara's lesson. Most of the content was common sense, unless you were a robot completely oblivious to human emotion. When I handed Uryu's paper back to him, he held out my own paper to me. I was a little embarrassed that he read what I wrote. He must have figured out it was about him. Who else could it have been?

xXxXx

Eh... I think I took a strange approach to this one, but I want to see if anyone sees something that stands out in Uryu's list. There's probably going to be about two more chapters, maybe one. I don't want to keep it too long.

Happy reading,

~Kai


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Bleach.

xXxXx

"Next stop: Shouhossa Platform!" the conductor announced over the intercom of the train. [1] A few seconds later, the train came to a halt in a tiny district crowded with people. I stepped out of the train, glad for a little more personal space than I had on the locomotive. Then the strange feeling hit me. I froze where I stood, and, for some reason, I was scared. I noticed the peculiarities of the people around me, yet it wasn't abnormal to see these same kind of people walking the streets around my neighborhood. I studied the boy with the mohawk, the woman carrying two small children, the old man with a mole smack in the middle of his cheek. I couldn't help but feel that I had seen this all before, but I'd never seen these people in my entire life. It was a feeling of _jamais vu_, if you will. I felt like I'd seen the entire scene before, but the reality was that I'd never been in a situation like it in my entire life.

A darkness began to overtake me. I couldn't see the mother and her children or the old man. All I saw were dark, blurry figures. The figures didn't make a single sound. It was as if I was watching a silent film before me. Suddenly the blurred figures began to change into a single, clearer shape. They began to take on the form of a disfigured, old man on the verge of death. His grey skin was dry and severely wrinkled. The mustache setting below his nose reminded me of a cobweb. I guess you could say he was very much like a demon you would see in a horror movie. He spoke to me, but his words were unintelligible and slow.

All I could remember after seeing the old man was reaching my hand out. After that, my surroundings became hazy once more, and I could hardly recollect any of what had just happened. The next thing I remembered clearly was waking up in the emergency room.

Apparently after getting off the bullet train, I seized and collapsed on the platform. A couple weeks later, I would find out that I had been seizing in my sleep, whereas I had previously dismissed the episodes as nightmares. The buildup of stress between managing my grades, college entrance exams, and my parents' arguing had caused an increase in the frequency of the seizures. [2]

When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed surrounded by a bunch of blurry figures. I recognized two of them as my mom and dad by their voices. When my vision became more clear, I could see that my mom was crying.

"Don't cry, Mom," I said groggily as I rested my hand on her forearm. I couldn't help but allow a couple tears to escape my own eyes at the sight of my mom crying over me. She wiped her face with the back of her hand and whispered my name. My dad put his arm around my mom and looked at her with care for the first time in awhile.

"Let's leave Akane alone for awhile so she can rest. She must be tired," he told her and escorted her our of the room.

A nurse came in shortly after they left to flush my IV. After she was finished, she let someone into the room. "You have a visitor, Akane-chan," she said.

A smile slowly spread across my face as Uryu walked into the small room. "Hey," I said.

"How are you feeling? Are you ok?" he immediately asked.

I sighed heavily. "What do you think? I'm tired out of my mind."

"The doctor said you were at the train station. Do you remember what happened before that?" I put my hand over my eyes, trying to dig up any memories I had from the past twenty-four hours, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what I had done moments or even the day before my spell. I knew it was something that I wanted to remember, but no matter how hard I thought, I couldn't think of what went on. I began to cry silently at the failure of my memory.

Uryu wiped the tears from my face. My cheeks were stained a crimson red from the saline that spilled from my eyes. "Shh, it's ok. You're going to be fine," he said as he wrapped his arms around me. I buried my face in his chest, silently sobbing away.

"That's not it," I choked out. "I don't remember. I can't remember. I know there was something important, but I don't know what it was."

Uryu pulled away from me and smiled at me sweetly. He knew what I couldn't remember. It kind of made me angry to see him smile while I lay there in emotional turmoil, but that didn't last long.

"Happy birthday, Akane."

'Of course, my seventeenth birthday. How could I forget it?' I thought to myself. Of all the things that had happened that day, there was perfectly good reason to. After I slowly started to recollect the things that had happened before my hospitalization, I realized that maybe it was for the best that I forgot some things and remembered others.

xXxXx

Akane's birthday is actually March 14th. (I give all my OCs birthdays for fun.) I was just a little late on getting a chapter done by then. Don't think I was making that stuff up about what Akane saw and felt when she seized. I'm epileptic. This was just an issue I hadn't ever addressed in my writing before, so I put it in LIY. It was going to be addressed some time or another anyway. It was _not _an attempt to have her be more like me so I could have a self-insert.

Happy reading,

~Kai

1. It just so happens that "shouhossa" means petit mal seizure

2. It is possible to seize in your sleep. Akane's particular seizures are complex partial, meaning she doesn't shake but she has a dizzy spell where she becomes dazed or unresponsive to those around her. Her consciousness is impaired even though she's still awake (if she wasn't asleep when she had it). If you don't understand, PM me and I'll try to explain it better.


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